cadet blogs

Today, Fourth Class cadets received wardroom carry-on! Now, the great class of 2015 is allowed to look at their meal as they eat, as well as being able to socialize with their classmates. It is only the first step of privileges for us, signaling the final stretch of an exhilarating year! It’s difficult to believe that exactly eight months ago, we were finishing up Swab Summer, with famous Sea Trials.

Boards are next weekend. Boards, the final indoctrination test for fourth class, are meant to prepare us for service in the operational Coast Guard during the summer. We still have not received word of our assignment for this summer, but everyone is anxiously waiting. With schoolwork and military obligations, I find myself stressed. I skip daily workouts sometimes in order to catch up on work. For example, I did not attend a pick-up basketball game Monday because of extra Chemistry studying. Luckily, I did very well on the test Tuesday morning, and I got right back on track that afternoon in working out.

At the Academy, there are three stars that cadets can earn to place on their uniform with excellent grades, outstanding military performance, or strong athletic skills. For the first semester, I earned the gold star for my grades. With the star, a cadet earns a long weekend (leave Friday evening and return Sunday night). I visited friends from high school at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was my first time visiting a civilian school since joining the Coast Guard last June. While I enjoyed spending time with my friends and having fun, I do not regret my decision at the Academy. The open gyms, open fields, and plenty of things to do are equal. I have the opportunity to be in a small class, where my classmates are my best friends. I can go to my instructors, who know me by my first name and always want to help out in academics.

I plan on attending plenty of softball and baseball games this spring, as the weather gets nicer. I got to see the softball team beat Roger Williams University 12-5, in a forfeit game. I also saw the men’s baseball team lose a heartbreaker by one run to Wheaton College. I will keep you all posted for upcoming games that I attend!

4/c Boards are coming up soon. This means a few things. For one, we are going to start earning back privileges. It won’t be long before we can eat our food without squaring it, get to play music out loud, get Facebook back, and eventually get full carry-on. The other thing it means is studying studying studying. We essentially have to know all the indoc we learned over Swab Summer, all the indoc we learned first semester, and everything we learned this semester. On top of that, “The Mission,” which we’ve all had memorized from day one has to be recited with two upper class screaming in your ear.

The mission part doesn’t sound that hard, it’s not like I don’t have the mission permanently ingrained into my memory, but it’s surprisingly hard when you try it. One person could be screaming at you in one ear (which is actually easier to deal with) and the other could be whispering in the other. Sometimes somebody will say the mission with you, but go at a different pace or say different words to try and mess you up.

As far as the indoc goes, we’ve had “benchmark” tests on everything we’ve needed to know, and for the most part our class has done pretty well on them. It gives me hope that our class as a whole will do well when the official boards roll around. I’m pretty sure if 90% or more of our class passes boards, we officially get fully carry-on (don’t have to square) and are basically 3/c at that point. The craziest part of all of this is that fourth class year is coming to a close. It honestly seems like yesterday that Swab Summer started. So if you’re a future swab reading this, don’t worry, time flies.

Billet Night was one of the best days I have had at
the Academy. I spent the entire day (and really entire prior month) being
extremely nervous about where I was going. I have always wanted to go to flight
school, and I was not sure if I would be selected for it or not.

Billet Night is a tradition when the graduating
class is told what units they are being assigned to for the next two years. The
process takes about two hours, and, of course, my name was not called until the
very end. There were four groups of six called for flight school, and my group
was called at the very end of the night. The wait was very stressful, but it
was worth it when I heard my name called for flight school! My excitement at
the moment cannot be explained with words – I could barely breathe.

I am excited to finally be able to start looking at
places to live. Although, I first need to find a place to live near the Academy
because I will be working in Admissions during the summer prior to reporting to
flight training. There are too many of us to go through flight training all at
once, so our admittance is staggered. I am happy with my assignment because it
will be nice to have some time away from schooling.